


The Hunters Anon

by torrince



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mordern AU, OOC, Slow Burn, chrollo is a creep, goth kurapika, i have no idea what im doing, kurapika works at gamestop, leorio is just trying his best, maybe a lot of killugon later, maybe slight killugon later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:21:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26862805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/torrince/pseuds/torrince
Summary: Leorio is living his best life with his best friend, Kurapika, and the two teens he somehow ended up with. Everything in his life seems to be pretty average, maybe even pretty great, until Killua shows him an anonymous hate account thats trying to ruin his reputation!
Relationships: Kurapika & Leorio Paladiknight, Kurapika/Leorio Paladiknight
Comments: 7
Kudos: 22





	The Hunters Anon

**Author's Note:**

> dedicated to cpas because chrollo really do be poor as shit 
> 
> final sentence credit to the hxhconfession twitter anon who inspired this entire thing
> 
> hello this is my first time writing anything for the hxh fandom and first time posting here on ao3 so please be kind <3 this all started because i saw a leorio hate tweet and we do not tolerate leorio slander in my house. i really don't know where i'm going with this but buckle up kids mom's driving tonight

It was a crisp autumn day. The sun shone brightly in a clear sky, making the cool breeze a little more bearable. Leorio sighed contentedly, leaves crunching beneath his feet with every step. Thoughts of all the seasonal activities he could do with his friends danced around his head and he felt the warmth of excitement rising in his chest. Apple picking, hay rides, pumpkin patches, perhaps a corn maze or a haunted house! He began to daydream about cozy sweaters and chai tea lattes as he continued along the sidewalk, wishing it was just a bit colder outside to fully live out his fantasy. 

“It’s fucking freezing,” the voice beside him said through chattering teeth. Leorio bit back a smile as he looked down upon the blonde to his left, who was trying to pull the sleeves of his leather jacket down just a bit further to cover his hands with no success. 

“Really? The weather seems to be fine up here,” Leorio replied. “It also probably helps that I have a real jacket. Hey, Kurapika. Have you tried wearing something, I don’t know, more practical?” 

“It’s an aesthetic,” Kurapika snapped back, his arms now wrapped around his small frame. The once bearable cool breeze had picked up a little, seeming to have chilled him to the core. “Have _you_ tried, I don’t know, driving once the weather dips below 70? Why did you even get a license if we’re still walking everywhere?”

“It’s nice outside!” Leorio shot back. “Besides, you know if we didn’t bring Gon and Killua to school, they would probably ditch class and then we would have to go all the way _back_ to have a meeting with the principal. Again. And I don’t know about you, but I’ve had enough of that woman for the year, and it’s only October. You know how weird she thinks we are.”

“We could still _drive_ ,” Kurapika insisted. They rounded the corner to the steps of their apartment building, Kurapika bouncing up the steps in his Docs as Leorio happily marched behind him. “And how are we weird?” he asked, shuffling at the top of the steps as he waited for Leorio. 

“Well for starters,” Leorio began, digging in his pocket for his keys, Kurapika now performing some sort of aerobics routine for warmth next to him, “you do shit like that.” He unlocked the door and Kurapika scooted past Leorio to run inside.

“I can’t be held responsible for the things I do when I am cold,” Kurapika called over his shoulder as he ran to his room. Leorio shook his head, smiling to himself as he closed the door behind him. He flopped down in a recliner at the edge of the living room, letting his mind wander back to when his party of one became a party of four. 

It had been a full year since he had asked Kurapika to move in with him and the two teenage hellions he had somehow acquired through a volunteering-with-youth program. The volunteering was supposed to end a few years ago, but once Leorio had learned of the horrors Killua had endured and the loneliness that crippled Gon, he knew there was no way he could let these kids inevitably fall through the system and did some fast talking to convince the kids’ legal guardians to hand them over, damn it. With Gon’s parents out of the picture (mom’s dead, dad’s MIA), it wasn’t too hard to get him out of his aunt’s hair and into Leorio’s. Killua, on the other hand, was a different story. He was a quiet thing at first, not saying much unless it was to Gon’s benefit, so it took a lot of patience on Leorio’s part to get him to open up about his home life. Once he did, Leorio fought tooth and nail with Killua’s social worker and a family court to get him out of his house, which led to him being placed into Leorio’s. The three lived in a quaint (small) apartment in a unique (sketchy) part of town up until Kurapika came into the picture. 

Shortly after Gon and Killua had moved in with Leorio, the three found themselves visiting the local mall every weekend for something to do. That’s what teenagers liked to do, right? Loiter? Leorio had no idea what else to do with them besides let them play video games in his living room. There was only so much Super Smash Bros one could take, until they stumbled into a gaming store one weekend and saw a seemingly bored blonde employee, and Leorio decided he could talk about Smash all day long if he had to. More and more, Gon and Killua would run off to terrorize the employees over at Zumiez while Leorio tried (and failed) to win over the blonde’s friendship. There was something so captivating about his gray eyes and the metal in his ears and the way he answered the phone ( _Thanks for calling the world’s greatest GameStop in YorkNew Mall, this is Kurapika._ ) and how rewarding it was to see a rare smile on his pale face. What Leorio’s favorite thing about befriending the blonde, though, was the absolute annoyance written all over his coworker’s face whenever Leorio walked through the door. Through months of talking with Kurapika, Leorio had learned that the coworker in question, Chrollo, had been obsessed with Kurapika since the day he was hired. Unfortunately, Chrollo had learned through social media that Kurapika was looking for a new place to live since his roommate had moved out. Sensing the panic in his otherwise calm friend, Leorio had asked Kurapika to find a place with him, saying he needed something bigger anyway now that he had Gon and Killua around. Kurapika had seemed shocked at first but knowing Chrollo was eavesdropping over by the PS4 games, he hastily agreed, and joined the makeshift household Leorio had created. 

“Earth to Leorio, come in, Leorio.” Kurapika was bent towards the lump of a human occupying his favorite chair, his dainty chain hanging forward from his neck. 

Leorio blinked himself out of his memories and swatted at the pale hand waving in front of his face. “Sorry, sorry. What’s up?”

Kurapika straightened, adjusting the collar of his white button up shirt before smoothing down the black crewneck he wore over it. “Didn’t you notice the time? If you’re truly set on forcing me to brave the elements and walk back to the school to get Gon and Killua, we need to leave soon.”

Leorio rolled his eyes. “You’re so dramatic, you know that? But I _guess_ we can drive today… as a treat. And only because I wasn’t planning on going on a stroll down memory lane, but here we are.”

“Thank the lord, the universe, the underworld, whatever,” Kurapika sighed, sinking down onto the arm of Leorio’s chair. “I even changed for the journey, but this is even better. Can we stop at that cafe down the street from the school before we go? Machi’s working today and she’ll hook up us with coffee.” He grinned, showing off his slightly pointed canines, gray eyes sparkling behind excitement he let so few see. 

“I thought you hated Machi,” Leorio laughed, trying to cram himself into one edge of the chair so Kurapika could sit. They were both thin, but Leorio towered over the blonde, making his legs take up most of the free space.

Kurapika slid down onto the chair, his hip bones jutting into Leorio’s thigh. “Yeah, yeah, she’s friends with Chrollo, I know. But today she provides coffee. Today she is our saving grace. Today, she warms my cold, dead heart with the beauty that is-“

“Hot bean water,” Leorio supplied, earning an eye roll so dramatic Kurapika’s entire head rolled. 

“Yes, Leorio. Hot bean water. Please, can we go? I need to be fully caffeinated before I’m sucked into an endless game of Minecraft with Gon.”

“You could tell him you don’t want to play, you know.”

“He will free my llamas.”

Leorio laughed, standing from the chair and offering Kurapika a hand up. “All right, let’s go. I don’t want to be held responsible for your llama liberation.” He pulled the smaller boy to his feet, attempted to force a coat over his crewneck sweatshirt (“It’s an _aesthetic_ , Leorio!”), and ushered him out the door to their home, locking it behind him. 

  * * * * * 



The drive to the cafe where Machi worked was admittedly much nicer than the walk would have been. Kurapika had curled up in the passenger seat, knees to chest, as he scanned his Spotify playlist for the soundtrack to their afternoon. Leorio never knew what would play out of his car speakers when Kurapika had the aux. Judging by his looks, you would expect something hard and heavy and fast, but today it seemed the mood was a little more mellow as his favorite song by The Midnight played while they drove through the city. 

When they arrived at the cafe, Kurapika yanked the door open as if he were allergic to the cold. The little bell rang indicating new customers, but the pink haired barista didn’t look up from her phone on the counter. Leorio could hear WAP playing out of the little speakers and coughed, trying to indicate she was no longer alone in the little shop. 

Kurapika had other ideas. “Don’t make me bust out in full tik tok dance, Mach,” he said in a monotonous voice, placing his hand over her phone. Machi finally looked up and grinned. 

“Haven’t seen you in awhile, KP. Too good for free coffee or hanging with your old friends?”

“Ha, ha,” he replied, leaning his side against the counter. “More like I haven’t been able to brace the arctic tundra that has become our city enough to walk all the way over here. Besides, I already see Chrollo enough at work, you really need me to come hang out with you during the few waking hours I have away from him?”

Machi laughed, walking away from the counter to pour two cups of black coffee as she thought about her roommate back at home, probably pining over the blonde as they spoke. “Harsh, KP. He’s not that bad.”

“Machi. The man has a forehead tattoo and once asked me what I thought about collecting human eyes in jars. He is kind of _that bad_.”

Leorio hung back, letting Kurapika do the talking. Machi was pretty in that intimidating e-girl kind of way that all of Kurapika’s old friends are and it made Leorio nervous. He watched as she handed his friend their drinks, her nails long and sharp against the cups. Kurapika faced away from her to hand a cup to Leorio, and she scowled. 

“Here,” Kurapika said as Leorio took the drink. “The gift of warmth. May it assist you in your quest to acquire the youth.”

“You are a youth,” Leorio replied before taking his drink and walking over to the station filled with sugar and cream. He dumped in as much cream as he could before the liquid poured over the top, turning it to a soft tawny color. He never understood how Kurapika could drink the shit black. He shuddered at the thought. 

“Thanks for the drinks, Mach. Don’t worry, I won’t tell Hisoka you were in here trying to learn the WAP dance.”

Machi rolled her eyes. “Honestly, he wishes.” They turned to leave, Kurapika holding his beverage close to his chest like some sort of shield, when Machi called out again. “Nice, seeing you, too, Rioleo.”

Leorio groaned as he started the car. “She knows my name! What is up with all of your friends calling me that?”

Kurapika side eyed him, biting on a nail. “It may or may not have something to do with the fact that I thought your name was Rioleo the first time you came into the store.”

“You’re kidding. Please tell me you’re kidding.”

Kurapika turned away, drinking his coffee through a smirk, eyes focused on the road ahead. 

“God damn it, Pika! You know, you should get your own license. I’m thinking about selling my car. In fact,” Leorio paused, pulling off to the side of the road. “let’s just get out here, leave the thing, and walk to school. Sound good?”

“No!” Kurapika laughed, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “Fuck, please do not make me walk out there. I am so small, I am but a frail, dainty boy. I will actually catch hypothermia.”

Leorio laughed, pulling back onto the main road. “A frail, dainty boy, huh? Where was that energy when Killua bet you couldn’t bend that golf club we found last summer?”

“That’s different. That was a bet.”

They pulled up to the school parking lot, watching all of the teenagers flood out of the doors like water bursting through a damn. In a sea of people, Gon and Killua weren’t too hard to spot, thankfully. A neon green outfit and fluffy white hair parted the waters as they ran to Leorio’s car. 

“Hi, Leorio! Hi, Kurapika!” Gon half-yelled as he tumbled into the backseat behind Leorio. “Guess what!”

“Gon,” Killua began as he slid in the car behind Kurapika. “He probably won’t even know what you’re talking about. He’s too old. Right, Kurapika?”

Kurapika scoffed. “Leorio? Old? No way.”

That damn blonde and his velvet voice dripping with sarcasm. “I’m only 22, damn it! What is it?”

“Well,” Gon sang. “You know that Facebook group, The Hunters Anon?”

Leorio did, in fact, know that Facebook group, The Hunters Anon. It was a massive group that had almost no requirement to be accepted to join, except that you could never make a post yourself. Everything had to be sent anonymously to the admin. It may have started amongst high schoolers, but it soon reached the adults of YorkNew, and the drama ensued. Leorio had spent many sleepless nights laughing about the poor suckers that got called out there, whether it be for cheating on their spouse or confessing their love. There had been plenty of posts about “that cute blonde that works at GameStop,” but Kurapika only cringed at the attention. 

“Yeah, what about it?” Leorio asked as he pulled out of the parking lot, dreading the amount of studying he still had to do before his night class began.

“There have been some really, uh, interesting things posted today-“

“You made it to the group, old man,” Killua cut in, thrusting his cell phone to the front between Leorio and Kurapika’s heads.

Leorio slammed on the brakes. “I _what_?!” 

“Yeah, check it out. They really got you, too.”

Leorio began to have tunnel vision as he panic-drove the car to the nearest parking lot before snatching Killua’s phone out of his hands. There, in huge letters at the top of the group’s feed, with over 100 reactions and comments, were the words that will haunt Leorio’s mind for the next several hours of the night. 

**leopika sucks and leorio is so forgettable**

**Author's Note:**

> the pacing? not good. thank u for reading!!! im not really sure if im going to continue this but if you guys like it i will! feel free to bother me on twitter @ torrince :)


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